Swindon’s Young set to face Le Gal for title defence

KELVIN Young’s manager Keith Mayo has moved a step closer to finalising an opponent for his IBO super-middleweight inter-continental champion.

Having admitted that a deal with Grenoble’s Nicolas Dion is now dead in the water following his points defeat last weekend in Poland and failing to agree terms, Mayo has switched his attentions to Morgan Le Gal to be in the opposite corner for Young’s first defence.

However, the 27-year-old will have to wait until after the weekend to see if the unbeaten Frenchman will be confirmed for the June 7 bout at the Oasis Leisure Centre as Le Gal is in action on Saturday over six-rounds against Jessy Luxembourger.

“We have more or less agreed terms for the fight,” Mayo told the Advertiser. “The IBO have approved him as a challenger but we just have to wait to see how he goes on Saturday.”

While Le Gal has an unbeaten record, Mayo says that he has been speaking with a contact in France to gauge what sort of test the Penhill pugilist should get next month.

The 25-year-old has won 10, three inside the distance, of his 11 fights, the only being a draw, but he has never gone beyond six rounds since turning pro in 2011.

Should the bout be confirmed it will also be Le Gal’s first fight outside his native France.

“He (Le Gal) is a steady boxer,” Mayo said. “He is unbeaten over 11 fights, so hopefully he will come through Saturday alright.”

Mayo has also confirmed that he is lining up a six-round fight for his other super-middleweight Tariq Quaddus.

The Swindon-based boxer has won all three of his fights since making his comeback under the KM Promotions banner in March.

And now Mayo is hoping to secure the fight against Jamie Ambler, the boxer Quaddus made his pro debut against, for the June 7 show.

“We want to get Tariq moving up,” Mayo said. “At the moment I’m talking with Jamie Ambler’s people to see if they will accept a six-round fight.

“The way Tariq goes to the body he is going to be even more dangerous over a longer distance.

“I want to keep him active and moving up because there is a potential for some sort of title fight for him towards the end of the year.”